


Christmas in Bucharest

by Snowflakesandangels



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, Christmas Eve, Comfort Food, Gen, Memories, Neighbors, Other Holidays, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, implied Steve/Bucky
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 21:58:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8864497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowflakesandangels/pseuds/Snowflakesandangels
Summary: A month after arriving in Romania, Bucky is visited by a group of children singing about stars and wishes. He doesn't remember much about Christmas, but being cared about feels pretty good.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am not Romanian, so I'm not sure if the language translations, and culture references are correct, but I did my best to be accurate. 
> 
> The Star Carol is a Romanian Christmas song that children sing house to house while carrying a large paper and foil star with a picture of the Christ Child in the center.
> 
> Cozonac is a sweet bread made with anything from nuts, lemon zest, raisins, nut and cocoa paste, dried fruit, to Turkish delight.  
> Crăciun Fericit (Merry Christmas)  
> Ioana (Joana)

Bucky heard the high voices even before he heard the words, floating through the shabby apartment building like the snow outside his newspaper-covered windows.

"The star has appeared on high, Like a big secret in the sky, The star is bright, May all your wishes turn out right."

That was nice. Wishes. Stars. Good secrets. He liked listening to the kids; they were innocent, not like him, but maybe like a past-him that he couldn't quite remember. He hoped there was a good past-him in there somewhere. The singing drew closer, eventually stopping at the next apartment where the sounds of delighted laughter blended with the kids' voices. They still sang about stars, and he could hear the faint tinkling of bells, when a knock sounded on his door.

Reflexively grabbing for the knife in the back of his belt, Bucky walked silently to the door to look out the peep-hole. There was... what was that exactly? Some kind of holiday decoration, he guessed, though all he could see was gold tinsel and a tiny metal bell. Something in him just wanted to open the door, to see the faces of the kids, to hear the song again, about the stars. But was it safe? For anyone? He was already holding a knife, how could he ever trust himself to not hurt anyone anymore? Still... he really wanted this.

Sticking the knife into the cracked plaster behind the door, Bucky took a deep breath and turned the knob, hiding his left arm behind the flimsy wood. The singing halted momentarily, and Bucky worried he'd done something wrong, when the oldest child cleared his throat and waved for the others to start the song over.

"Steaua sus răsare, Ca o taină mare, Steaua strălucește, Să vi se împlinească toate dorințele!"

As he listened, Bucky stared at the tinsel decoration; it was a short pole topped with a star, covered in gold and silver foil, tinsel, bells, and at its center a picture of the Christ-child. Something about the star was familiar. He'd seen something like it before, or past-him had, a long time ago. The song; at least the flow and sound, he knew that from somewhere as well. Unlike the things he usually remembered... It was good.

A gold sun-star held aloft by someone in white. Chanting; Latin, maybe. The feel of hardwood under his knees. The smell of burning candles. High ceilings. The guy, Steve, kneeling beside him, but smaller. Feeling peaceful...

The song ended and Bucky did his best to smile, though he was considerably out of practice.

"Thank you."

"Crăciun Fericit." The tallest boy answered, leading the others towards the next flight of stairs. A much smaller child stared back at Bucky, her eyes wide with concern as she jogged to keep up with the group. Bucky watched them go, then locked his door again. Lying down on the floor, he thought about his new memory. Apart from seeing a flashback of a skinny, smiling kid in his Mission's battered face, this was the first real memory he'd had of Steve Rogers. Neither looked like the man in the museum, he was too tall, too broad, too hard. Memory-Steve was small, thin, and soft. His hands were soft and cold when he went outside, his hair was soft and warm when it brushed just under Bucky's chin, his voice was both soft and rough together, like him. Like Steve.

Who was he, then; past-him? In these memories? Someone without a clear face to look at; a presence, a mass of energy that surrounded memory-Steve like a planetary orbit. The feeling was strange, strong, like having a Mission; but not angry. Both hard and soft.

The sound of many voices in the hall caused Bucky to stiffen and reach for his knife, only to remember he'd left it behind the door. Quickly rising, he silently crossed the room, and looked through the peep-hole again. Twenty-five people; fourteen adults, six men, eight women, and the eleven children from earlier stood outside his door. What was this? A trap? Bucky did a mental scan of his apartment; no one but him had been in it since he'd moved in a month ago, and as far as he could tell, no one was waiting to attack from the balcony either. So what-

"Mister?"

The little girl who had been staring at him held up a plate of bread. "Mister, we brought you some cozonac."

Cozonac? The word sounded familiar. It was... sweet bread. Furrowing his brow slightly, Bucky stuck the knife in the wall of the coat closet, and pulled on his glove. If these people were trying to kill him, they were going about it all the wrong ways. Unlocking the door, he opened it a few inches. "Can I help you?"

An older man spoke up from the near side of the crowd that half spilled onto the stairs. "Good evening. We understand you're new here, and we came to make sure you weren't alone on Christmas Eve."

"Oh." That was the last thing he'd ever expected to hear in any incarnation of his life. "Um, thank you. I guess you'd better come in."

If this was an attack threat, it was better to keep everyone in full view at all times. The small one room apartment filled quickly, and surprisingly, so did the kitchen counter. Food of every kind, on a collection of different sized plates, occupied every spare inch of Bucky's kitchen. A small woman who was probably close to his ninety-eight years, pinched his good arm and shook her head. "Not enough meat on you, you're all rocks and bones. Now eat something."

That was going to be a challenge; there were at least twenty different foods staring at him. Cozonac. That's what he wanted to try. Finding the plate, Bucky took a small slice and tasted a corner of it. There was no immediate taste of poison, so he finished it, surprising himself at how hungry he actually was. Taking another piece, he looked around to find two of the men had vanished. Before he could panic, they came back in from the hall dragging a mattress between them.

"You'll be too stiff to work if you sleep on the floor. You can keep this as long as you need it." To stifle any arguments, the men each took a small piece of bread and drifted to the back of the group. During the next hour, Bucky was coaxed into trying something from every plate of food, as well as a bottle of something strong enough to make even his insides feel a little warmer. By the time the party broke up, he had been given not only the mattress, but a sleeping bag, a mismatched set of cooking pans and utensils, a small table, and a lamp, as well as a warning to either eat more or be fed once a week by every grandmother in the building.

Bucky thanked them all, even though he was feeling more than a little overwhelmed; and as the last of his neighbors left, he knelt in front of the little girl who had started everything.

"Why did you do this for me, Ioana?"

"Because you were alone and had nothing. Everyone needs friends."

She wrapped her arms around Bucky's neck and kissed his heavily stubbled cheek. "Crăciun Fericit, Bucky.”

Bucky stood staring at the quietly falling snow from his balcony long after his new friends had left. Looking back over his shoulder, he breathed out slowly; the soft light from his lamp, good food in his stomach, kindness from strangers in his heart, made Bucky feel that maybe, just maybe, there might even be a good present-him, too.


	2. Dragobete day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On one of Ioana's visits, Bucky throws a tooth on the roof, listens to a story, and tells one of his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: I am not Romanian, so I'm not sure if the language translations, and culture references are correct, but I did my best to be accurate.
> 
> February 24th, Dragobete day, is similar to Valentine's day. It is a day to celebrate love and the begining of spring.
> 
> Throwing a baby tooth onto the roof and asking a crow to bring one of steel is similar to the tooth fairy, or tooth mouse traditions in other parts of the world.
> 
> Ioana - Joana  
> Străbunica - great grandmother  
> Străbunicu - great grandfather

"Bucky!"

Bucky smiled to himself as he heard Ioana's little feet charging up the stairs to his apartment. Every day since Christmas, she had come to visit him; sometimes with her friends, though most days she just came by herself to have a snack and tell him about her day. At first, Bucky had been uneasy, not knowing if he would be a danger to her, but after a few times, began seeing her visits as something to look forward to.

The door was open by the time Ioana reached the landing, giving Bucky a wide grin.

"I lost a tooth!"

"Wow, how did you do that?"

Leaving her schoolbag by the front door, Ioana ran to sit on Bucky's newly borrowed love seat while he started warming up some milk for her.

"I slipped on the ice and bit my tongue and it sort of fell out. I kept it though." The bloodstained incisor resting on Ioana's palm made Bucky feel queasy for some reason; but she looked proud.

"Bucky?"

"Hm?"

"Do you live at the very top of the house?"

Bucky glanced up at the ceiling then back down to the stove. "I think so. Why?"

Instead of answering, Ioana pulled on his sleeve until he turned off the stove and followed her out to the patio. Once they were outside, she turned her back on the city and looked solemnly up at Bucky.

"Do you have good teeth?"

"Yeah."

"Then throw this over the roof."

The tiny white tooth was placed in Bucky's gloved metal hand. He transfered it to the right one before leaning back and throwing it far enough to land safely on the flat roof above while Ioana chanted;

"Crow, Crow, take my tooth and bring me a steel one!"

Giggling, she ran back into the apartment and curled up on the love seat again. While she waited for Bucky to finish making her milk, Ioana told him stories about her school, her classmates, teachers, friends, and family.

"We're getting ready for Dragobete day! Străbunica said you were touched by him." Bucky smiled as Ioana touched a finger, still warm from holding her mug, to the dimple in his chin. "Right there. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Blushing slightly, Bucky got up to get himself something to drink. "No."

"Oh." Ioana looked slightly disappointed, but recovered quickly, chatting on about the traditions she was learning. "Străbunica remembers making love tonic from snow, and picking flowers, and going on picnics in the mountains all day! She said the boys would chase the girls all the way to town, and kiss them. Străbunicu chased her, and they were sweethearts after that."

"That's a nice story."

Ioana nodded and poked her tongue through the new gap in her teeth. "Can you thell me a thory?"

"I'm not very good at telling stories, but I'll try." Bucky wasn't sure where the story was from, or why he knew it, but it seemed like a good one for a little girl.

"Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who lived with her wicked stepmother. When she sang, all the birds in all the trees would stop to listen. One day, the queen asked her magic mirror who was the most beautiful; and the mirror told her the princess was. That made the queen so mad, she sent the princess out into the forest to die. And she would have, but the birds and animals led her to a cottage where she would be safe. The princess was so tired from walking around the woods all day, she stretched out on a bed and went right to sleep. When she woke up, there were seven-"

"Dwarves!"

"You know this one, huh?" Bucky grinned and tickled one of Ioana's feet. "Should I stop there?"

"No! Keep going!"

"Okay. Seven dwarves wanting to know why she was in one of their beds. After the princess explained everything, the dwarves asked her to stay and help around the house, and in return, they would keep her safe from the queen. That worked out fine until the next time the queen talked to her mirror and it still said the princess was more beautiful than her."

Ioana was practically bouncing in her seat with anticipation, and Bucky had to put her mug on top of the stove so she wouldn't drop it. "Then she made a poisoned apple?!"

"Then she made a poisoned apple. And dressed up like an old lady to trick the princess into eating it and falling down dead. She wasn't really dead, but no one knew that; the dwarves were so sad when they found the princess, they made her a glass coffin filled with flowers, then chased the queen so deep into the woods, she was never seen again. Every day, the dwarves guarded the princess; so did the animals, and the birds, who had stopped singing altogether. One day, a prince found out about the beautiful princess in the glass coffin, and came to give her a kiss to break the queen's spell. It did; and the prince and the princess, the dwarves, the forest animals, and the birds, who sang brighter than ever, lived happily ever after."

Completely delighted with her story, Ioana gave Bucky a round of enthusiastic clapping and a hug, before drinking the last of her milk and retrieving her book bag. Watching from the top of the stairs, Bucky waited until Ioana reached her own floor, waving back when she looked up and waved at him.

"Thanks for the story, Bucky!"

"Anytime!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story Bucky told Ioana was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Fairy tales were popular in the 1920s and 30s, and he would have seen the Disney movie in 1938, when it premiered in the US.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first of both a longer story and a future series. Fingers crossed! :)


End file.
